Heinkel He 115 B/C Seaplane - 1:72 Revell

[Paul A H]

Heinkel He 115 B/C Seaplane

1:72 Revell

The handsome Heinkel He 115 was the largest twin-float sea plane used during the Second World War. Developed by Heinkel in the mid-1930s as a replacement for the He 59 seaplane, the He 115 was intended to fulfil the role of torpedo bomber, mine layer and reconnaissance aircraft. Although somewhat obsolete by the outbreak of war, the He 115 was able to remain in service throughout, due largely to the fact that it was able to undertake nocturnal mine laying duties while relatively unmolested by allied aircraft.

The He 115 was a minor export success for the Warnemünde-based firm, with a small number of aircraft being sold to Sweden and Norway prior to the outbreak of war. Several Norwegian examples were acquired by the British and were used against the Germans in clandestine operations. During one notable incident, an He 115 landed in Tripoli harbour to pick up British agents, all the while completely untroubled by any German forces.

September seems to be re-release month for Revell. Following on from their re-boxing of the Hasegawa Harrier Gr. Mk 7/9 is this re-issue of the classic Matchbox He 115, also known as PK-401. The kit was first released in 1977 and was part of Matchbox’s Red Series. It is made up of just 59 parts – surprisingly few for an aircraft of this size. Matchbox must have known a thing or two about tool making, as the sprues are in very good condition for their vintage. There is very little flash indeed and no other obvious signs of wear and tear. Surface detail is fairly basic and is comprised of a mixture of raised and recessed panel lines. The larger moveable components such as the flying surfaces and bomb bay doors are recessed, while panels that would have been riveted in place on the real thing are represented by fine, raised lines.

The long cockpit is right at the basic end of the spectrum as it is comprised of just three parts; the cockpit floor and seats for the pilot and rear gunner/navigator. There are no instrument panels, control columns or any other gubbins, so if you want to add some detail to this area, then scratch building will be the way to go. By contrast, the three crew members are rather nice and feature plenty of detail. The observer/bomb aimer, moulded in the prone position, is particularly good.

The wings and horizontal stabilisers are each made up of upper and lower halves and all of the control surfaces are moulded in place. The BMW 132K 9-cylinder radial engines look ok and should do the job under the one-piece cowlings. The kit is not without some finer details though. Rudder and aileron balance weights are provided, and the 7.92mm machine guns would probably pass muster if included in a kit released today. The floats, struts and ladders are all reasonably fine too. I would nevertheless recommend taking care when installing them just so you can be sure that everything lines up properly.

I’d love to tell you that the extensive canopy and nose glazing is thin and clear, but I’m afraid it isn’t. It’s quite thick and rather opaque. I’m not sure whether dipping the parts in Klear would have much of an effect either, as the parts appear to have a rough texture. If you really want to improve these parts, you may want to sand them down and then polish them up to a shine yourself. Even worse, the nose glazing is split vertically, with the seam running right down the middle of a single piece of glazing. This will be almost impossible to disguise, so I would recommend that you either cheat and paint an extra canopy frame down the middle to hide the join, or cut the part out and replace it with a single piece of clear plastic cut to shape.

Two options are provided for on the decal sheet:

• Heinkel He 115 C-1 of 1./Kusten-Fliegergruppe 106, Cherbourg, France 1941; and
  
• Heinkel He 115 B-1 of 1./Kusten-Fliegergruppe 406, Norway, October 1941.
  

Both aircraft are finished in two-tone green splinter camouflage with light blue undersides. Unfortunately Revell haven’t included RLM reference numbers, just their own. The decals are nicely printed but are quite matt. I would recommend using a decal solution and applying them over a gloss surface.

Conclusion

This isn’t a modern kit by any means. It’s very basic in places and the part count is remarkably low for a kit of this size. There isn’t much in the way of fine detail and the clear parts are really quite poor. Nevertheless, I feel a certain fondness towards this kit. I’m not sure whether it’s the He 115 itself, dewy-eyed nostalgia or just a hankering for a nice, simple kit to build, but I’m actually looking forward to building this. Recommended (if you’re a sentimental old fool like me).

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

[Dave Fleming]

Oooh, I'd hoped it was the (slightly more refined) Frog kit. which previously appeared in a Revell box.

[Julien]

I have the original Matchbox kit, its not too bad.

Julien

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Anyone know of any aftermarket bits for this kit.....An interior of some kind would be nice.

[smackers]

There is a photo etch interior available IF you can get hold of one, heres the details

[NicPl]

Hi,

I build this kit 15 years ago and it's still looks great on my shelf (apart from the dust of course!). The only problem I encountered (as I remember it), was the rear maschine gun has to be glued properly to the slot in the canopy or else it becomes loose. I was afraid to cloud the canopy by using too much glue so I used it sparingly. Apparant too sparingly, so now it rattles around in the fuselage somewhere! Maybe it could be a good idea to make some sort of holder for the maschine gun or else omit it. Or maybe white glue could become handy here...

Nicolai

[Paul A H]

There is a photo etch interior available IF you can get hold of one, heres the details

I've seen an article online where the Extratech set has been used and it looks fabulous. BUT - I think it is designed for use with the FROG version of this kit rather than the Matchbox version. It may be adaptable, but I don't have it so I can't check.

[deadahead]

I think the build Paul is thinking about is this one on Swannys Models site http://www.swannysmodels.com/He115.html.